One of Bay Area's last Fry's Electronics stores closes

[Mike Begley]

>> 
>> Palo Alto Fry’s closing <https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Bay-Area-locations-Frys-Electronics-closed-14939907.php
>> .  Sad, but not the end of an era – apparently the loss of lease
>
> When I last visited a couple months ago, the one in Wilsonville, Oregon hadn’t done any restocking to speak of
> (except a couple video games) for months.  The shelves were largely bare, and all the places they used to store
> excess stock were empty.  I might be down that way in a few weeks, if so I’ll try to check on the status of the
> store.  I know in October there was a news article or two claiming they were in the process of restocking,
> but based on my last visit, they seem dead.

I went to the one outside Seattle a few months ago, and the shelves were perhaps 15-20% full, at best.  It was kinda creepy and kinda sad.  We chatted with one of the stockers, and they said that they just didn't have the traffic to bring in inventory, so it's the chicken & the egg problem.  They're were also allocating part of the store to do online fulfillment, and just trying to ramp up their online presence.

I doubt they'll last until spring.  There's no way they can afford the rent, inventory and payroll on the amount of customers they have these days.

-mike
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